Maidan coach Ashok Mustafi dies following cardiac arrest

Veteran Maidan coach Ashok Mustafi, who also trained former India captain and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly during his formative years, died after a prolonged illness on Thursday morning. He is survived by a daughter, based in London. "He was suffering from heart-related ailments and was admitted to a hospital in April.

Veteran Maidan coach Ashok Mustafi, who also trained former India captain and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly during his formative years, died after a prolonged illness on Thursday morning. He was 86. He is survived by a daughter, based in London.

"He was suffering from heart-related ailments and was admitted to a hospital in April. Early this morning he suffered a cardiac arrest and breathed his last," a family source told PTI. He was the coach of famous Dukhiram Cricket Coaching Centre which came into being under the Aryan Club galleries -- once considered the nursery of Bengal cricket having produced more than a dozen of Ranji cricketers including Ganguly.

Ganguly's father had put him under Mustafi in his formative years as he took his early cricketing lessons along with his friend Sanjay Das. Last month Mustafi's condition had deteriorated and Ganguly along with his close friend Sanjay made all the arrangements for his treatment.

In 1992, Mustafi joined Howrah Union before associating himself with a coaching center near his residence in Saltlake.